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>>People Chef chic >> Upscale
St-Laurent eatery benefits from its by CHRIS BARRY
Bio: This hard livin’, hard lovin’ St-Henri resident started out as a dishwasher in the West Island to gradually become one of the top chefs in the country. Attributing much of his success to always having done his best “to serve good, honest food” —as opposed to the dishonest kind—he and his crew will be opening a new restaurant called Rosalie in the old 1234 de la Montagne building this November. Passionate about his art, he’s cooked for practically every big celebrity that’s passed through these parts, his first big name being the honourable Pierre Trudeau. “I still enjoy baking, touching, slicing tomatoes that someone like Pierre Trudeau is going to eat.” He drives a 1999 Jeep Cherokee. What a modest meal for two at the Globe might cost you: About $150 with wine if you don’t go too crazy. One early sign that he was either considerably disturbed or about to embark upon a life of culinary greatness: “I used to skip school or pretend to be sick so I could stay home and watch Wok With Yan or Pasquale. I’d cook all these elaborate meals in the afternoon and then have to run around cleaning up the kitchen and pretending like nothing had happened before my parents got home.” Does he believe chefs are going to be the rock stars of the new millennium? “I don’t know. In the States some of them already are.” Does he have any plans to go chasing the media spotlight and relocate to New York or London? Not at all. “I love it here and, hey, if you can’t make it at home, then really, what’s it worth?” Does he get a lot of chef groupies yearning to help him peel his potato? Not really. “Well, maybe sometimes, but I try and set them back really quickly.” Does he ever plan on hosting his own cooking show? Absolutely not. “Personally, I think the chefs who do these shows are idiots, they make me chuckle. You know, a chef should just stay in his kitchen and that’s it. If I had to produce 40 television shows a year, the food in my kitchen would suffer.” His favourite local restaurant: L’Express on St-Denis. Preferred fast food outlet: Dic Ann’s. Something else he does: Paints. He just closed a show at the Westmount Tavern. What his paintings are selling for these days: Between $1,000 and $2,000. One place you might find him boozin’: At the Monkland Tavern. Preferred alcoholic beverage: Red wine. “Oh yeah, I like to get ploughed on wine. I can drink three bottles, man.” Childhood ambition: To become a farmer or a chef. Current ambition: To retire from his kitchen duties within the next five years or so. “Maybe start painting more.” Musical preferences: The Grateful Dead, Chet Baker. A recent film he liked: Before Nightfall. Favourite local painter: Denis Pellerin. Television preferences: Star Trek: Voyager. Last book read: The Invention of the Restaurant, by Rebecca Spang Words of wisdom: “Stay clear of negative people. It’s harder to frown than it is to smile.” : |
Name:
Dave McMillan